PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley junior forward Marcellus Sommerville (Peoria, Ill./Peoria H.S.) scored a game-high 25 points, but Drake senior forward Pete Eggers countered with his first career double-double, 22 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Bulldogs (12-15, 7-11) to a 79-69 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory Monday night at Carver Arena.
With the loss, Bradley (13-14, 6-12) finishes eighth in the final regular-season Valley standings and will play Indiana State (10-19, 5-13) in the opening game Friday (6 p.m.) of the State Farm MVC Tournament at the Savvis Center in St. Louis. Drake finishes seventh and will play Evansville (11-16, 5-13) in the second game of Friday night's opening round. The Bradley-Indiana State winner will take on regular-season champion Southern Illinois Saturday at noon, while the Drake-Evansville winner will face runner-up Wichita State Saturday at six o'clock.
Bradley junior forward Lawrence Wright (Beale A.F.B., Calif./Wheatland H.S.) contributed 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Junior guard Tony Bennett (Chicago, Ill./Westinghouse H.S.) added 13 points and freshman center Patrick O'Bryant (Blaine, Minn./Blaine H.S.) had 12 points and tied his school record with seven blocked shots, despite being limited to 17 minutes before fouling out. O'Bryant's total helped Bradley set a school-record with 11 blocked shots.
Klayton Korver chipped in 15 points to the Drake effort and Chaun Brooks completed the double-digit scoring with 10 points.
Although Bradley committed only 11 turnovers against Drake's full-court pressure, the Bulldogs forced the Braves into their coldest shooting night of the season. Bradley, which missed on several opportunities to score in transition and made just 3-of-16 3-point field goal attempts, shot 35.9 percent (23-64) overall from the floor. Drake was not much warmer overall , 39.3 percent (24-61), but the Bulldogs drained 11-of-21 (.524) attempts from behind the 3-point line. The Bulldogs also corralled 17 of their 48 rebounds on the offensive end and turned the board work into a 15-11 edge in second-chance points.
With O'Bryant on the floor, Bradley seemed to be in control early and took a 16-10 lead on a Sommerville trey with 14:50 to go in the first half. The Braves still led 26-21 when O'Bryant picked up his second foul with 8:37 left, forcing him to the bench for the rest of the half. Eggers scored five points in a 9-4 burst that pulled the Bulldogs even and the teams went into the lockerroom tied 38-38.
A Jeremy Crouch 3-pointer to open the second half gave the Braves a 41-38 lead, but after an exchange of baskets, Drake pulled ahead for good with an 10-2 salvo capped by an Eggers trey for a 52-44 edge with 14:27 left. Eggers finished 5-for-5 from behind the arc.
